Us Against the World
by Surflilu246
Summary: When Taichi falls asleep on guard duty one night an evil digimon attacks the digidestined. After a terrible battle, Taichi faints, only to wake up and find his friends gone. Can he save them, one by one, or will they fall to the powers of darkness? Taiora
1. Don't Fall Asleep

Disclaimer: I don't own digimonnnn!!!!

"Hey Yamato, your shift is over. Go to sleep." A brown haired boy walked over to a glowing campfire. "I'll take over from here."

Yamato stood up and stretched his arms above his head. "Thanks Taichi. Have fun.. But hey, if Takeru starts having nightmares again, can you wake me up?" The blonde turned and looked at his younger brother. He peacefully slept in a circle amongst the other chosen children. His digimon, Patamon, was snuggled up against him.

Tai smiled when he saw the young boy as well. "Sure thing Yamato."

"Don't fall asleep yourself." Yamato chuckled as he walked away.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure he stays awake!" The orange digimon standing next to Taichi called after him.

"Agumon!" Taichi chuckled as he sat on the log next to the fire. "What am I going to do with you.."

"Hey, Yamato's got a point! You can't fall asleep and you're very prone to doing it!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Taichi shifted his gaze from the fire to his sleeping friends. Each one of them looked so peaceful, which was strange. Whenever they were awake, it was anything but peaceful. The boy smiled as he saw Takeru roll over on top of Patamon. The little orange digimon quickly squirmed away, seemingly without waking up. Matt laid next to his brother with his digimon, Gabumon, a good distance away. A red haired kid, Koushiro, slept using his beloved computer as a pillow. His digimon, Tentomon, was above him, laying across the branch of a tree along with Piyomon and who was partnered with an auburn haired girl, Sora. The other two girls in the group, Mimi and Hikari, slept with Palmon and Tailmon. Jyou slept upright against a tree, Tai guessed, in case there was need of a quick escape. Finally, his digimon, Gomamon, laid on the ground next to him. What a group they were..

"Whatcha lookin' at Taichi?"

"Oh, nothing!" The boy's cheeks flushed deeply red as he shifted his glance from a certain member of the group to his digimon.

"Are you sure Taichi? I don't believe you." The orange digimon eyed the boy. He knew better than this. Humans were very easy to figure out.

"Yeah.. I was just thinking." Taichi looked at the ground, trying to shake off Agumon's prying gaze.

"About what? Sora?"

Taichi jumped up. "SHH! Agumon! Someone could be awake!"

"So you're saying you are thinking about her?" A grin of triumph appeared across his wide face.

"No! I didn't say that.. Ugh.. Agumon! Get outta here." Taichi turned around on the log, clearly annoyed. However, he couldn't hide his smile. Truthfully, he was staring at Sora, and it was hard not to do it now.

"Oh come on Taichi. If anyone in this group knows you it's me!" The digimon kept his smile as he walked closer to his friend, egging him on. "Why don't you just tell her?"

The boy grimaced. "Agumonnn… Alright, just don't say anything!" Agumon hopped up on the log next to Taichi as he continued. "Wait, is it really that noticeable?"

"Not really.. I mean, I don't think anyone pays as much attention to what you do as I do." The digimon shrugged his shoulders.

"Thanks.." Taichi slapped his forehead. "Well, I guess that's good then.. as long as she doesn't know.."

"That you like her?" Agumon questioned.

"AGUMON! Be quiet!!" Taichi once again jumped up off the log, ready to bop his digimon on the head.

"But you're being louder than I am!"

The boy quickly sat down, slightly embarrassed. "Look, I'm gonna lay down and rest my eyes for a few seconds. If I fall asleep, wake me up alright? So that means you can't fall asleep yourself."

"But Taichi!" The orange digimon tried to protest, "Yamato said to stay awake!"

"I don't care what Yamato said, besides, I said I'm not falling asleep, just resting my eyes." Taichi smiled and gave Agumon a thumbs up.

"Taichi…."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." And with that, Tai laid himself down on the other side of the log, hidden from the view of his anxious digimon.

"But Taichi.."

"ZZZzzzZZZ"

"Mmmm.." The orange digimon opened his eyes and sat up. "Oh no! I must of fallen asleep." He glanced at the fire which had now been reduced to embers. How long had he been asleep for? An hour? Two hours? He struggled in the dark to try and make his way over to his sleeping partner. Before he got there, however, he heard something behind him. "Who's there?"

The crinkling stopped as Agumon went over to investigate. "If only I could see.."

"AHHH!"

Agumon knew that voice. "Takeru?! Takeru!" He ran over to where his friends slept only to find them being surrounded by a group of Bakeman.

"PEPPER BREATH!" A ball of fire flew out of the digimon's mouth. He struck one of the ghostly digimon and it flew backward into a tree. "TAICHI WAKE UP!" Agumon cried, trying to hold off the three Bakeman which had turned their attentions to him.

Taichi groaned from the other side of the log. "..Whats… what's going on? Agumon? Agumon?!" The boy jolted up as he saw the scene in front of him. "Where did these Bakeman come from?!"

"Taichi!" Yamato yelled as a Bakeman grabbed both his arms. "I thought I told you not to fall asleep!"

The boy's eyes widened. "I.. I didn't mean to.." He tried to step forward, but he couldn't.

"Pepperbreath! Pepperbreath! Everyone, wake up!" Agumon ran, trying to attack the Bakeman faster than they arrived. For each one he knocked unconscious, a new one seemed to arrive.

One by one, the other digimon stood up, quickly taking in what was going on, and attacking as well.

"Blue Blaster!"

"Spiral Twister!"

"Boom Bubble!"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone froze. The last voice echoed across the mountains, sending chills down everyone's spines. The digimon froze at the sound. The Bakeman stayed put, each one latched onto a different chosen child. The digidestined's digimon didn't move either, though it seemed they didn't have the choice.

"What's going on?!" Palmon called, trying to move her rooted feet from the ground.

"I can't move!" Gomamon tried to move his fins as well.

Taichi finally stepped forward. "Who are you?!"

An evil laugh came from every direction. "Who are you to question me, especially when you're in such a predicament?"

The boy clenched his fist. "Who. Are. You."

Another evil laugh. "Well, if you insist, I suppose I'll introduce myself."

The digidestined gasped as a dark cloud formed in the sky, covering the sparkling stars that had given off light seconds before. Taichi jumped back as the dying fire was re-ignited, giving off an orange glow. He looked up. From the cloud came a giant digimon. It was completely black, except for three white stripes down it's back. It's eyes glowed red, and fanged teeth showed through a evil smile. His wings were large and worn with holes. Finally, his long arms and legs ended with claws that looked like they could rip through anything.

"I'm Anzaman." His voice boomed as the dragon-like digimon landed heavily on the ground. The earth shook as he spoke.

"What do you want?" Taichi asked, looking around at his hostage friends. His eyes shot from Hikari, to Yamato, to Sora. Everyone was caught except for him.

"You have a lot of courage to speak to me in that tone, human. I wonder if you'll sound the same once the life has been sucked out of you." Anzaman held his hand out towards him. Taichi was merely the size of his smallest finger.

"Pepperbreath!" Agumon jumped in front of his hand. The attack didn't seem to anything.

"How annoying." Anzaman growled. "Is that the best you've got, chosen child?"

"Not quite." Tai glanced at Agumon. The digimon gave him a knowing look in return. "Agumon, let's do it!"

The little orange digimon was engulfed in a ball of light as he began to digivolve. Taichi covered his eyes. He could now fully see what Anzaman looked like, and he couldn't bear to look. Truly, he was hideous.

An orange light now burst from Taichi's chest and his digivice began to beep.

"Agumon warp digivolve to.. Wargreymon!"

The giant fighter digimon landed in front of Anzaman, ready for anything that came his way. However, he was not expecting what came next.

Anzaman seem unmoved by the mega-level digimon. "I don't have time for games like these. Let me show you how I play."

A bead of sweat dripped down Taichi's forehead as Anzaman kneeled down on the ground.

"What a pretty little girl.. You look so much like.. your brother." Anzaman looked at Taichi, waiting for a reaction as he spoke to Hikari. He got what he wanted.

"Get away from her!" Taichi screamed, beginning to run towards her.

"Ah, ah, ah." Anzaman waved his finger and Taichi flew backwards, crashing with a thud against the ground.

"Taichi!" Hikari called, tears beginning to run down her face. "Stop hurting him!"

Anzaman ignored her and moved his attention to the girl being held next to Hikari. "And you, why are you looking at me like that? I haven't done anything to you… yet." He pushed one of his long silver claws against the girls cheek, pushing her face away.

"Sora!" Taichi cried as he tried to get up. "Don't touch her!"

Anzaman grinned. This is exactly what he wanted. "My, my, so protective, aren't we? Why is that? It's useless, really. You'll all be dead soon enough."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Wargreymon growled. "Giga-"

"I wouldn't do that." Anzamon calmly interrupted.

"Yeah and why not?!"

Anzaman looked at the boy, stunned by his courage. It took him a second to remember what he was going to say. "Stupid boy. Because, if your digimon here attacks me, someone will die tonight."

Taichi's face went white. "..what…. you can't"

"Watch me." Anzaman snapped his fingers. The Bakeman holding Hikari and Sora rose into the air.

"TAICHI!" His sister called, tears streaming down her 8-year-old face. "Help me Taichi!"

Sora screamed too, "TAICHI! Piyomon!"

Tai looked up, his mouth quivering. "No! Put them down!"

"Put them down?" Anzaman laughed. "Do you really want me to do that? And to think I was going to give you the opportunity to save one.."

"..One?" Taichi watched his sister's feet shake one hundred feet up in the air.

"That's right, pathetic human. Your emotions run too strong, don't they? You have to pick one, but, will it be your sister, or this other girl whom you acted so protective over? If I was you, I'd let both of their pitiful lives end, but now, I'm in a good mood today." Anzaman boomed.

'What are you going to do..' Taichi thought to himself. 'There's got to be something you can do..' He was frozen from fear. He couldn't lose either one of them, and both of them had the same right to live. Who was he to pick one?

"Time's running out." Anzaman laughed. "Tick, tock."

Taichi glanced at Wargreymon. Wargreyman gave him the same look as he had in the battle before, and the battle before that. The boy looked down for a second, to make sure Wargreymon was right. There was really nothing else to do. He looked up once again at both struggling girls.

"Taichi! Save your sister, Taichi! Don't worry about me!" Sora called, desperately searching for air, as Bakeman's claw was wrapped loosely around her neck.

"Taichi no! Save Sora!" Hikari shouted in between muffled cries.

"No!" Taichi cried. 'Wargreyman, go!"

"GIGA BLASTER!" Wargreymon cried as his cannons lit up.

"BAKEMON!" Anzaman turned around just before Wargreymon's strike hit. "Kill them both!" When the rockets crashed into his darkened body, it sent everybody flying. Taichi flew backwards as he saw Hikari and Sora falling from the sky, desperately screaming.

"Wargreymon!" He shouted. Then everything went black.

Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed chapter one. What did you think? Reviews would be greatly appreciated, and I'll get chapter two out as soon as possible!

Hope you enjoyed it!

Surflilu.


	2. Find Me Under the Fire

"Mmm.. Wha..What's going on. Agumon?" Taichi Yagami opened his eyes and stared at a cloudless blue sky. "Shit! I was supposed to stay awake!" He jumped up, expecting Yamato to come and let him have it. However, all Taichi saw was Agumon spread out on the ground a few meters away from him. Slowly, the memories of the previous night trickled back into his head. Then finally, the whole event seemingly slapped him in the face.

"Agumon!" Taichi ran over to where his friend lay still. "Wake up! Wake up!" Images of Sora and Hikari's faces as they fell to the ground flashed through his mind as he madly shook the digimon. "Wake up Agumon, wake up!" However, he didn't budge.

Taichi stumbled back. He dug his face into his hands and sat on the ground, waiting for something to happen. However, nothing would. He mustered up the courage to look around and saw nothing. His friends were gone. The place where they had slept was now empty and lifeless. Taichi could still see the imprints in the sand of where they all slept. He stopped at the place where his sister had been laying only a few hours ago. Or was it only a few hours ago? The boy had lost track of time. He didn't even know how long he'd been asleep for.

He reached behind his head to feel a rather large bump that had appeared. He rubbed it gently, but it swelled at the touch. He grimaced from the pain, both from his injuries and from his inability to comprehend why this new digimon would take his friends and not him. Sora.. Hikari.. Had Wargreymon gotten to them in time? And how come Wargreymon wasn't able to defeat this evil? He just hoped with all his heart that his friends were alright. Taichi smacked his clenched fist against the ground. If Anzamon layed one finger on Hikari, he wouldn't live to see another day. And poor Takeru.. The youngest one in the group could be all alone. Maybe Jyou or Yamato was with him. Taichi could only hope.

The boy heard someone mumbling behind him and turned around to find Agumon slowly standing up.

"Agumon!" Taichi jumped up and ran over to him. "You're alright!"

Agumon stared at the boy, confused. "Yeah I'm fine.. What happened?"

Taichi's heart sank. "You don't remember?" The hope he had of finding out what exactly happened to Sora and his sister disappeared with that question. He quickly focused his anger on Agumon. "How could you not remember?!"

The digimon was taken aback. "I'm sorry Taichi, I don't remember anything.. all I remember is fighting, then, nothing.. I'm sorry, I should have fought harder."

Taichi quickly censored himself. "It's alright Agumon, you did your best, but, you don't remember what happened to our friends?"

Agumon looked around. For the first time, he realized that everyone was gone. It was only him and Taichi. What were they going to do? He stood up and faced his friend. "Taichi, I'm sorry.. We'll find them!"

The lack of an answer saddened Taichi even more. "And where are we going to start looking? We don't even know who took them! Or if they were even taken at all.."

"They had to be, Taichi!" Agumon retaliated. "I don't remember much from last night, but I do remember that Digimon.."

"That digimon.." Taichi grasped his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "His name.. what was his name?"

"Anzamon?" Agumon said, not quite sure. "I think it was something like that.."

"Yeah, that sounds right." Taichi sat down on a log close to him, followed by his friend. "I can't remember though.. this bump on the head really did it for me.. Where's Jyou and his medical skills when you really need him?"

"We'll find him." Agumon put one of his rather large claws against Taichi's back. "Come on, we'll start looking now! It's no use just sitting here..

The boy thought for a moment. His digimon had a point. Sitting here, they were just sitting ducks. Anzamon could come back and attack them at any moment. Then again, they had no idea where they were going. Where were they even supposed to start? Taichi opened his mouth to question his digimon's motives, but then an image flashed into his mind. His face went white as he remembered the look on his sisters face as she'd shouted for Wargreymon to let her die. He then remembered the look on Sora's face as she was held up in the air. The look of worry engulfed her as she shouted that Hikari was wrong. He then thought of them both falling to the ground, after he was unable to pick one to live.

Taichi dug his fingers into the wet wood before turning to his digimon once again. "Agumon.. You'll do this with me?" His eyes were hidden as he looked down, his locks of hair blocking the sunlight from hitting the top half of his face.

"Of course.." Agumon said, uncertain of what Taichi would say next.

"Alright. We're in this together, it's us against whatever's out there. That bastard took our friends.. He took Hikari.. He took Yamato.. He could've killed them.." The last couple words sucked the air out of Taichi's lungs. That couldn't be true, no, of course not. They were the digidestined. They were the heroes. The heroes never died. "Agumon, do you think you got to them in time? Do you think they're at least.. alive?"

The digimon looked straight at the boy. "Taichi, I was Wargreymon, how couldn't I have?"

The confidence in Agumon's voice made the boy feel a bit better. Together, they stood up and left the campsite. Taichi looked behind him as they walked away, back at the spots left in the ground, back at the broken branches and the lightly burning embers. He felt uncertain as he left the last memories of his friends, but ahead, he would find them. He knew it.

X

_"Taichi! Help me Taichi!"_

"Ahh!" Taichi looked up from the ground. He'd been staring at his shuffling feet for awhile now, letting his mind wander. Admittedly, though, he couldn't stop thinking about his sister and how much she'd needed him. He also remembered how he couldn't move, how he couldn't get to her.. How Hikari's big brother couldn't do a thing.

"Taichi?" The boy saw that Agumon had stopped in front of him. His expression showed that he was clearly concerned.

"Sorry Agumon, I was just thinking."

"Well don't." Taichi looked surprised at what Agumon said, but the little digimon continued. "When you think about it, it'll just make you more upset. It wasn't your fault Taichi, no one could do anything."

"I know.." Taichi started, looking back down at the ground. "Hey, how long have we been walking for anyways?"

"A couple hours I suppose." Agumon simply stated. "We're a long distance away."

The two examined their surroundings. Where they were seemed somewhat familiar. They had just walked out of thick jungle-like brush, and were now looking at a desert. A stone well stood in between them and a long, hot walk. The boys looked at each other happily. "Water!"

They dashed over and looked down, to see if there was anything to quench their thirst.

"Ugh, no." Taichi grunted after he discovered that all he could see was darkness. "There's no way there's anything down there."

"We could check anyways. Look!" Agumon pointed to the bucket that was strung across a pulley. "Let's let it down!"

Taichi quickly untied the knot that held it there and let it fall to the bottom of the well. All they heard was a disappointing clunk as it hit dry ground. Taichi slid himself down against the stone. He sat, defeated, on the ground. "Agumon, this is ridiculous. Nothing's going our wa- What?"

Agumon looked to where Taichi was now pointing. "What are you looking at?"

The boy looked bewildered. "Agumon, the rope just moved!"

"Are you sure? I didn't see anything. I think you're dehydrated.."

"I'm sure I saw it! Look, Agumon, just wait!" Taichi jumped up off the ground and stared at the rope, waiting for it to move again. After about a minute of silence passed by, the look of hopefulness on the boys face disappeared.

"I'm sorry Taichi, nothing happened." Agumon was about to turn and walk away, when suddenly, he saw the rope twitch too.

Taichi nearly jumped with surprise. "See! Agumon I told you! Come on, help me pull the bucket up!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Agumon questioned. "It could be an evil digimon."

"Come on, just help me!" Taichi paid no attention to Agumon's concern as he began pulling on the rope. "Agumon, please, it's so heavy.." A grunt escaped his lips as the dinosaur like digimon grabbed a hold. Together, they slowly but surely made progress. What could possibly have made the bucket so heavy? It couldn't possibly be water..

When they neared the end of the rope, they tried to peer down to see what they were pulling up, just to make sure it was something they actually wanted to bring to the surface. What they saw took them both by surprise.

"Tsunomon?!" They increased the speed that they were pulling the bucket up and quickly took him out. The little digimon looked exhausted. His orange and tan fur was filled with dirt and his horn had scratches all over it. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"Taichi.. Agumon.. Thank goodness.." Tsunomon whispered through closely parted lips as he let his eyes close. "I thought I'd be lost forever."

"What are you talking about?" Agumon frantically asked, trying to keep his friend from passing out. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"It's a long story.." Tsunomon sounded like he was going to drift off.

"And where's Yamato?" Taichi quickly asked, trying to get all the information out of him before he fell unconscious.

"Yamato.. Taichi.. I tried, I'm sorry.." They could see the little digimon's eyes were beginning to tear up. "I don't know where.. anymore.."

"You don't know where he is?!" Taichi's heart started to pound against his chest. The color drained from his face as the realization that all the humans could be without their digital partners sank in. However, he needed to keep Tsunomon calm- and awake. "Can you tell us what happened to you?"

"To me?" Tsunomon said breathlessly. Taichi simply nodded. "Alright.. I-I don't remember much, but, all of us digimon tried to fight with Wargreymon.. But, then Anzamon performed this stunning attack.. It-it knocked us all away.. Wargreymon was gone.. and..and he turned to us –and.. oh Taichi, I'm sorry we couldn't defeat him!"

"Tsunomon, Tsunomon! It's fine! Don't you worry, you all did your best, but please, you need to finish!"

Tsunomon bit his tiny lip. "He.. he attacked us.. over and over again. We couldn't digivolve.. I felt like I was going to be destroyed.. I don't know if anyone actually was.. but after I couldn't take it anymore.. I-I gave up.. I couldn't move.. and then he took Yamato…"

"He took Yamato?! Did he take everyone else??" Taichi asked, his impatience kicking in.

"I-I don't know.. but everyone was screaming.. Yamato was in pain, and I couldn't move…"

Taichi's eyes grew wide. "Yamato was in pain? No.. This is all my fault.. I shouldn't have fallen asleep.. I shouldn't have frozen.. Tsunomon, I'm so sorry.."

"It's okay.." Tsunomon lightly smiled as his eyes flickered shut once again. "Now that you're here, we can find him.. Everything will be…"

Taichi waited for him to finish, but he never did. He had finally run out of energy. "Tsunomon! Tsunomon! Wake up! Please…" Taichi begged. "We need your help.." Tsunomon's words scared him though. Now that he was here, everything would be okay? In the past, it had always been the humans who relied on their digimon to stay safe. Now, the roles had seemingly reversed. Tsunomon had been helpless by himself. How did he even get down in that well anyway? And did he say that Wargreymon disappeared? The dreaded thought that Hikari and Sora had perished once again pushed its way out from the back of his mind. Tsunomon had to have seen whether or not Wargreymon was able to save them.. If only he would wake up.

Taichi held the fragile digimon in his arms as he walked with Agumon. They needed to let Tsunomon rest. Maybe then he'd be able to recall more of what had happened. Taichi needed anyone with him right now. Any of the chosen would have been fine. He didn't like the idea that he was the only human in the group. He had Agumon, sure, but Tsunomon wouldn't be able to do anything without Yamato. And the fact that Wargreymon couldn't destroy Anzamon left a pit in his stomach. What if Anzamon found him now? All three of them would be goners.

A few hours later, Taichi and Agumon decided they wouldn't make any more progress without some rest. Finding Tsunomon gave them hope, but at the same time, Taichi couldn't bear to think about what he had said. 'Yamato was in pain..' What had Anzamon done? What had happened to Mimi and Jyou and all the others? Where was Koushiro? If only Taichi could find Koushiro. Taichi knew if he could locate the redhead then all his questions would be answered. Being with Koushiro gave him a certain amount of confidence. He always knew what he was doing, and Taichi was sure that his computer would be able to locate any of the digidestined. When Koushiro was around, there was never any doubt, they always knew what they were doing. But here was Taichi, alone, thinking illogically. Agumon wasn't helping too much either. His light humor annoyed Taichi more than it helped. And Tsunomon, the poor thing, he really was useless without Yamato if they were to get themselves into trouble. Perhaps Yamato should be the first person they searched for. Or Koushiro.. or Hikari..

Taichi let out a frustrated grumble as he sat down against a tree. "Do you think we should stay here for awhile? It's getting kindof dark.."

"I think that'd be a good idea, Taichi." Agumon responded. "I think Tsunomon could use a good's night rest too. When do you think he'll wake up?"

"Soon I hope." Taichi rested his head in his hands as he looked at Tsunomon. He was still passed out.. He must have really been through a lot." As he spoke though, Tsunomon's eyes slowly opened.

"Taichi, Agumon?" The same smile appeared on his face as just before he passed out. "We're safe?"

"Yes, of course! Don't you worry." Taichi smiled back at him reassuringly. "I don't mean to be a burden, but are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, quite a lot. And I take it you want me to finish with my story don't you?" Tsunomon asked. Agumon and Taichi noticed he was speaking a lot easier now than he was before.

"That'd be great." A sigh of relief swept over Taichi's body.

"Alright." Tsunomon started. "I guess I told you most of the story, I'm sure it wasn't very detailed though. So since you don't remember anything, what do you want to know?"

"Well, first off, you said Wargreymon disappeared right? Do you know if he rescued Hikari and Sora before he did?" The anxiety in Taichi's voice was very noticeable. However, he was about to be let down.

"I'm sorry Taichi I don't.. There was dust everywhere from the attack.. I heard though.. I heard.."

"What, what'd you hear?" Taichi interrupted.

"I heard them both screaming.. and then the screaming stopped."

"Oh.." Taichi looked down at the ground. He wasn't sure what to make of that. "Well, thanks, Tsunomon.."

"I'm sorry, but I know they're okay. Especially Hikari, she's really strong. I'm sure she's with Takeru, and he's protecting her!" Tsunomon smiled, trying to make the boy feel better.

Taichi decided to let Tsunomon convince him. He smiled too, not really sure if it was fake or not. "I think so too."

"Oh, Taichi, I almost forgot!"

Taichi sat up straight again. "What is is Tsunomon?"

"Did you hear what Koushiro shouted?"

The boy was curious now. "No.. What did he shout? When?"

"Before he was taken.." Tsunomon looked thoughtful. "He shouted to you, or at least he tried to. He said 'Find me under the fire.'"

"Under the fire? What the hell did he mean?" Taichi asked no one inparticular.

"Think like Koushiro." Agumon suggested.

"Well.." Taichi thought aloud. "He wants us to find.. something.."

"Under a fire.." Agumon finished his thought for him. "Where did we see a fire?"

"The last fire I saw was at the campsite.." Tsunomon added in.

"If Koushiro is making us all go back to the campsite, the second I find him, I'm going to kill him." Taichi threw his head back.

"Is he hiding there?" Agumon asked.

"Why would he be hiding under the fire?" Taichi asked sarcastically. "I suppose we have to go though, maybe it'll help us find everyone else." The boy began cleaning up the area to try and hide their tracks.

"We're going now?" Agumon asked. "We haven't even slept yet!"

"I'm sorry Agumon but we have to. I need to find everyone. I need to find Hikari. Come on, are you with me?"

The orange digimon trudged alongside his partner with Tsunomon following closely behind. Taichi looked up at the stars as he walked. 'Izzy, please tell me something there will help us. Even though you're not here, I'm putting all my trust in you right now..'

X

_"You're telling me we MISSED one of them?!" A voice roared through the dark forest night. "How could you idiots have MISSED one?!"_

_"We're sorry sir! We're sorry! We didn't see him! We thought he had already died!" Two Bakemon bowed down in front of a larger digimon. "Please forgive us Anzamon!"_

_"Because you two thought wrong, my plans could be RUINED! If you don't want your own lives to end I suggest you go out there and find the child we missed!"_

_"Yes! Yes, of course!" The Bakemon scampered off, scared to anger Anzamon more than he already was. _

_Anzamon leaned back in the giant stone chair he sat in. His surroundings were dark and hidden from the rest of the world. He'd managed to build up quite a fortress without anyone knowing. However, none of that mattered now. Nothing he had already accomplished had mattered. If the one chosen child he missed had managed to save everyone else, everything he'd built would be destroyed. _

_'Which one did we even miss?' He thought to himself as he stood up again. He glided over to a large glass orb, taking with him a small box. When he opened it, crests were revealed. An evil smile came to his face when he looked upon them. He had so easily taken many of them.. He began to pick them up and hold them towards the orb. _

_The first one he grabbed was green. It resembled a tear drop with a spot in the middle. 'Sincerity..' He thought to himself. 'You were so easy to acquire..' An image of an unconscious girl passed through his mind as he thought back. 'Your digimon put up quite a fight though.. well, as much of a fight as a Rookie level could..' He lightly touched it to the orb and an image of a cruise ship sailing the sea showed up. 'Excellent..'_

_He slid the rope around his opposite arm as he picked another crest at random. This one was silver and looked like a cross. 'Reliability.. From watching you, I always thought you'd be the first to fall.. You did surprise me though.' Again, he held the crest up. This time, an image of a restaurant appeared. '2 down..'_

_The next one was blue. It was made up of a circle with a squiggle line going down the middle and two horn-like shapes sticking out from either side. "Friendship.." Anzamon muttered aloud. "Disgusting.." He went back to his thoughts. 'So called crest of friendship, you didn't try to protect anyone else.. well, besides your brother.' The thought of the brother's bond send a tingling pain down his spine. It clouded his thoughts and caused him to ache with pain. 'But, once I got to him, you were a lost cause..' He held up the crest of friendship and saw a picture of a darkened cave. 'I have friendship.. Who's next..'Instead of holding onto Yamato's crest, he threw it harshly on the ground._

_Next was his brother's, the crest of hope. Anzamon scowled at it. He knew that none of them were being very hopeful right now.. 'What good are you now, Hope?' He thought to himself. With this crest, he saw the image of a rundown amusement park. If the digimon recalled correctly, the boy had almost lost his life there once. Maybe this time it would actually work. In the orb he saw his minions everywhere, watching every entrance and exit of the park. Nothing was coming in, and certainly, nothing was leaving._

_Anzamon picked from the two remaining crests in the box. The one he chose still shone a bit. It pierced the tips of his claws when he picked it up, causing him to falter backwards. 'Shit! Stupid girl, what are you doing?' "Show me light!" He screamed as he held it up to the glass ball. Surely enough, a picture of a large lake appeared. On the shores of that lake lay a tiny body. As the image zoomed in, Anzamon found that she was still unconscious. "Maybe I've killed her already.." He thought aloud as he watched her motionless body. She was laying across her stomach, but her head was to the side so that only half of it was buried in the sand. 'So innocent, it's almost a shame.. Now.."_

_Anzamon picked up the final crest. It didn't hurt him physically, as light had, but when he touched it, he clenched his fists with pain. He leaned backwards and let out a gigantic scream making the walls rumble around him. Rubble from the stone walls shook to the ground and the echo could be heard throughout the underground fortress. Several Bakemon came running in when they heard their master's cry. _

_"What is it, what is causing you to scream master?!" They called out._

_He grabbed his head with both his hands as he fell to his knees. "LOVE!" He called out. "IT IS LOVE! Go to the pyramid! Make her feel the same torture that she is causing me! I don't care what you do, but make her BEG for death!"_

_"Yes, yes!" They obediently cried as they made their way to the front of the room. They quickly left. None of them looked back. They simply left their master to his pain. _

_Eventually, Anzamon stood up. He stumbled as he walked back over to his throne. When he collapsed upon it, his eyes begged for rest, but he would not allow himself to do so, not before the final chosen child had been found. 'Courage..' He thought to himself. He was missing courage, and courage was all anyone would need to attempt a rescue. But wait.. Wasn't there one more crest missing? Anzamon tried to remember if he had separated any of them, but he was in too much pain to think. He abandoned the thought as he let his mind go into nothingness._

_X_

"Have you found anything yet?" Taichi called to the two digimon as they searched around the campfire.

"No, nothing yet!" Was all they replied.

It took them quite awhile to get back to the campsite, and Taichi was going to lose it if they had trekked back all the way to where they started for nothing.

'Find me under the fire.. Find me under the fire.. God Dammit, Koushiro! What do you mean?! ..Wait!' Taichi crawled over closer to the fire pit. "Guys, come here!"

"What?!" Agumon and Tsunomon asked as they ran over.

"I've got an idea! Quick guys, help me move these logs!"

Together, the three of them successfully took apart the fire. If anything was under there, they were clueless as to how Koushiro had managed to get it there. Once the spot had been cleared, Taichi motioned for Agumon to dig. It didn't take long before he hit something hard.

"Look out, look out!" Taichi was more successful at bringing up whatever it was with his hands. "What the hell.."

Taichi saw something bright yellow. Once he brushed all the dirt off, he discovered that it was Koushiro's computer!

"Koushiro!" Taichi shouted to no one in particular. "I knew I could always count on you!" He opened it up, and something fell out and landed on the ground beside him. "Huh?"

"Look Taichi, it's a crest!" Tsunomon stated as he hopped over towards it. "It's Koushiro's! The crest of knowledge!"

A huge smile spread across the boy's face. "Koushiro, you're a genius! Now, at least whatever Anzamon's up to, he's down one crest." Taichi turned to Tsunomon. "I think we're finding everything one piece at a time."

"Then eventually, we'll find everyone!" The round digimon jumped up and down in the air. "We'll find Yamato soon!"

"Yeah.." A more serious look grew on Taichi's face as he turned on the computer. "Do you think there's anything on here that could help us?"

"Maybe, look." Agumon said as he scurried around so he could see the screen as well. "I can't even understand half of these documents.." He muttered as Taichi searched through all the files.

"Hold on, I'm going to check recent documents." With a few clicks of the mouse, Taichi opened the folder. There were a few files in there, but the dates between the last two were significant. The first file Taichi saw had the previous day's date on it, and the file before that had a date of before they came into the digital world. It made enough sense. The boy clicked on the most recent file and a sound player popped up. "Listen!" Taichi put his forefinger to his lips, signaling the others to be quiet. It was very hard to hear, and there was a lot of static, but if the boys listened closely, they could hear Koushiro's voice.

_"To anyone who's watching this, it's the digidestined. I hope it's you Taichi, you can't be seen from where you were knocked unconscious.. Wargreymon's gone too, he disappeared right after he caught Sora and Hikari.."_

A wave of relief ran through Taichi's body as he heard those words.

_"I don't have much time, the Bakemon let us loose after Anzamon's attack, but he's taking everybody! I'm sure he'll find me soon, he's gotten Tentomon. Oh no, He's coming! I-I, for the first time ever, I don't know what to do! I hope by hiding this here it helps you somehow.. He's taken Takeru and Yamato on the way to me.. Time to go, time to try and fight back, I hope this doesn't go to waste… FIND ME UNDER THE FIRE!...."_

The three sat there motionless as the message finished. They could hear the struggles of each digidestined in the background. Each useless attack of the rookie digimon echoed through the night. Worse yet, so did the calls for Taichi and Wargreymon. They were the only hope, and they didn't do anything.

"I heard Yamato.."

Agumon and Taichi turned towards Tsunomon. "What?"

"In the recording, I heard Yamato.. I heard my attack, then I heard Yamato.."

"When?" Taichi rewound the clip to the beginning. "Tell me when you hear it!"

They painfully sat there and listened to the recording again, reliving the scene in their heads.

_"Blue blaster!"_ "Stop here!" Tsunomon said urgently.

Taichi clicked pause and turned up the volume as loud as it could go. They could barely hear Gabumon's attack, so they doubted they'd be able to hear Yamato. They leaned in as Taichi clicked play, trying to concentrate on the sound. Surely enough, behind the crackling and behind Koushiro's voice, they heard Yamato's cries. As Taichi took in what he said, his eyes swelled up with tears. Never before had he heard his friend beg like that.. Yamato was never reduced to begging..

"What did he say?" Agumon asked quietly. He saw Taichi's face, but he wasn't able to hear anything on the recording. He was almost too afraid to ask.

Taichi inhaled deeply as he looked at the digimon. "He said.. 'Don't send me back to that cave..' He was begging Anzamon to let him be with his brother.. Begging him.."

Agumon moved his gaze from Taichi's eyes to a spot just over his shoulder. "Oh.." He then looked at Tsunomon, who had a horrible look of guilt on his face.

"I couldn't protect him.. It's all my fault.."

"No." Taichi said. "If anything, it's my fault. Come on.. let's start going."

"What?" Agumon asked. "Going where?"

Taichi looked over his shoulder. "To the cave. Remember the cave Yamato told us about after we fought the dark masters? He said it was formed from the darkness of his heart. That sounds like the perfect spot for Anzamon to hold him in. I've got find him. Are you with me?"

Tsunomon and Agumon looked briefly at each other. "Of course."

Together, they started walking towards Spiral Mountain. They knew that's where the cave had previously taken Yamato captive. Or at least, it was around there..

'Hold on Yamato.' Taichi thought to himself. 'We're coming..'

But, just as they commenced their journey, a pain pierced the boy's chest. He grunted as he fell to his knees, not able to figure out what had just happened. All he knew was that his heart was screaming. It felt like it was being tortured. It pumped against his ribcage and manically squirmed inside him. Agumon ran over to him, but it was of no use. He felt cold, like all the warmth and joy inside of him had been suddenly ripped away.

X

**Alright, chapter two is up! I hope you all liked it. I was thinking of splitting this chapter up into two, but I think it came out better this way. Review and let me know what you think [=. **

**Thanks!**

**surflilu.**


	3. A Shield of Blue

Where was he? He walked around the cave alone trying to find his way out, but with every lost lead, more hope was lost. He was completely alone and completely unaware of where he was. Well, he had some idea of where he was. The boy had known where he was going. He pushed his blonde hair away from his face as he leaned against the cave's rocky wall. He might as well give up. As far as he knew, Gabumon was dead. As far as he knew, all of his friends were dead. HE was supposed to be dead. The boy recalled the night he had been thrown into the cave, the pain he felt as the darkness had to be recreated in his heart for it to appear.

He turned around and punched the dirty wall with all his might. His scream echoed through the dark cavern as he brought his hand back to his chest. Fresh blood was wiped off on his shirt. He took off his torn glove and quickly wiped the blood away, wincing every time the dusty fabric came in contact with the cracked skin on his knuckles. When his hand had been tended to, the boy looked up. He had punched straight through the wall.

"Ah, Yamato, what have you done.." He whispered to himself as he peered inside. On the other side of the hole there was another room. It didn't seem to be part of the cave, it was perfectly square, and the walls weren't brown or covered with rocks. He quickly began to widen the hole he made, and to his surprise, it gave way easily. Yamato stepped into the darkened room and let his eyes adjust. It appeared to be empty, but he soon realized it wasn't. He walked over towards the other side of the room to inspect what he saw. He jumped when the hole he had made in the wall suddenly closed, trapping him in. Quickly, he ran back over to it, trying to pound his way through, but his blows were futile.

"SHIT!" He shouted, not caring if anyone heard him. Surely he was all alone. He turned back to the object across the room and briskly walked to it. It appeared to be some kind of globe. As he got closer it began to glow, lighting up the entire room in an aqua glow and blinding him momentarily. He covered his eyes, but continued walking closer. To his surprise, the outline of his crest appeared cloudily in the globe. It called to him, begging him to touch it. When he did, it sent a burst of light throughout the room. Dark fog formed itself around the boy's body. It engulfed him as his hand continued to press against the glass. He screamed as it inched its way into his skin forcing out all the hope he previously had. When the scene had died down, Yamato leaned against the globe, using it for support. His breath was heavy and his shoulders sagged. A scream shrieked throughout the room, but it wasn't his. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around. Why did that voice seem so familiar?

He turned back to the orb, noticing it was the spot the screaming had originated from. He wasn't sure why, but he began to shout at it. "WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU?"

When the boy got no response, he angrily took the weightless ball and threw it against the ground. All the light it gave off quickly diminished. All that was left were the glass shards and its blue liquid spread across the floor. He stomped on the remaining pieces, making sure nothing was left. He stopped suddenly when the liquid stared to move.

He watched in awe as it moved about on the floor, breaking off and forming with other little blotches to form words. When the liquid stopped moving, he read what it formed.

"..Gabumon.." He whispered to himself. When his name was spoken, the liquid began to move around again. The words were smaller this time.

_Gabumon: Unknown_

'Gabumon Unknown?' Yamato thought. 'What the hell does that mean?' He quickly got an idea.

"Yagami Taichi." He spoke to the liquid. He smiled as the liquid began to move once again.

_Yagami Taichi: Unknown_

"Takaishi Takeru" He spoke again. This time he didn't have as much confidence in his voice. He bit his lip as the liquid began to form different words

_Takaishi Takeru: Anzamon_

Yamato's stomach tied itself in a knot. Takeru was with Anzamon? Or was he simply a captive as the boy had figured himself to be? Quickly, Yamato muttered his own name.

_Ishida Yamato: Anzamon_

A feeling of relief quickly came over his body, but it didn't help for long. Takeru was still in trouble. Yamato needed to get out of there, he needed to find his brother, but what if Anzamon was near? He got another idea.

"Anzamon."

The liquid didn't move.

Again he repeated, "Anzamon!"

As if the little droplets of blue could feel the hardness in his voice, they quickly began moving around, fretting to find the correct spot to be. This time though, they didn't form words. The formed a picture. Yamato knelt down on the ground to see what it was. When he was clearly focused, the image started moving. There he was, there was no doubt about it. Anzamon was in the very center of the animation. Around him seemed to be two other digimon. Something unrecognizable lay helplessly in front of them. As the scene progressed on, Yamato watched as Anzamon's two minions hurled attack after attack at the helpless creature.

"The creature," Yamato spoke, "What is that?"

The liquid stopped moving and formed itself into more words. _You don't remember?_

Yamato was about to ask another question when voices from the other side of the wall stopped him. He watched as the blue liquid split apart and scrambled behind Yamato's back. If he knew he was in the right state of mind, he would have sworn he hear it yelp. Yamato tried to get up to investigate, but found himself unable to move. He glanced behind him only to see little droplets of blue liquid clinging onto his shirt, making sure he stayed on the ground.

"What are you doing?" He harshly whispered back to them, "Let me up!" Yamato was surprised at how humanly he was treating it. To its apparent dismay, he brushed them off and stood up. However, as soon as he got to his feet, an explosion sent him flying backwards. When the dust cleared, Yamato saw two digimon flying straight at him. He turned around, but the little blue droplets had seemingly disappeared.

"You idiot!" One of the digimon shouted. "You set them free!"

Yamato was about to ask who they were, but he quickly got his answer.

"Anzamon will not be happy to hear about this!" The other digimon cried.

They exchanged knowing glances and pointed their swords at Yamato. They looked like guards. They wore iron helmets and had armor wrapped around their chests. They, of course, had their swords, and shields in their opposite hands. Yamato noticed fur sticking out of their armor, and instead of hands, they had claws. However, he didn't know who these digimon were, nor did he care at the moment. All he cared about was that he somehow freed something, and he was about to pay a horrible price.

"Wait!" Yamato called out. "I really don't know what you're talking about! What have I set free?"

One of the digimon pointed with his sword towards the broken globe on the ground. "Them."

Yamato looked back towards them confused. "Them?"

The two digimon looked mockingly at him. "Come now, you're telling us you didn't know they were digimon? Stop trying to save your own skin. Deeds like that don't go unpunished.."

Yamato stepped back as one swung his sword in midair. The other ran his pointer finger across his neck. Sweat began to form on the boy's forehead as he searched for a way out of the room. There was none. The hole that had appeared when the two digimon had entered disappeared once again. Finally, one of the armored creatures stepped forward, dropping his shield and grabbing hold of Yamato's arm. The boy grimaced as the cold sword was placed against his tingling skin.

"What's the matter?" The digimon continued as he ran the sword up his arm causing blood to spurt from the freshly cut wound. "Afraid of death? Afraid of going to join- your brother?"

He dropped the boy to the ground. Yamato quickly ripped his shirt off and wrapped it around his red arm. The green fabric turned dark and wet, unable to contain the flow of blood.

"What are you talking about?!" Yamato cried through clenched teeth. How did they know about Takeru? His mind ran wild trying to piece everything together. What were these digimon? What the hell were those blue things? And most importantly, what had happened to Takeru that Yamato didn't know about?

"Oh, I guess he didn't hear the news." One digimon said to the other. "What a pity, he was such a small little boy.."

"Shut up!" Yamato shouted at both of them, trying to keep his vision from going blurry. "You don't know anything you bastards!"

"I'm getting sick of you." One growled through his mask. "What do you think would be more painful?" He continued, turning to the digimon next to him. "The chest or the throat?"

"I'd say the throat." He responded as he once again drew his sword, licking his lips as he looked over the chosen child. His pale skin was begging to be cut. He looked the boy in the eyes with a look of complete atrophy. "Goodbye, friendship."

Yamato shut his eyes as he watched him raise the sword into the air. Was this really the end? After all the battles he'd been through, two digimon were going to simply take his life? As he heard the sword cut the air on its way down, he unwillingly let out a defeated scream. Once that, surprisingly, wasn't cut short. Yamato opened his eyes cautiously. Why wasn't he dead?

In front of him, all he could see was blue. Blue droplets were everywhere. As much as the digimon tried, he could not cut through them. A grin of victory spread across Yamato's lips as he realized what had happened. It, rather, they- the blue digimon, formed a wall in front of him, making it impossible for the sword to reach its target. However, the smile soon disappeared once he realized the digimon was still going at it, trying to slice through them, trying to kill him. Some of the blue digimon broke free and began spelling out a word. Yamato squinted his eyes, trying to read it without being blinded by the light.

_Run!_

Yamato's eyes widened as finally, the blue droplets broke apart and splattered to the floor. Others flew into the walls and even more went straight up to the ceiling. They were quickly absorbed by the walls, saving their own skins. However, the boy didn't waste the opportunity. He ran back to where he entered through the wall and desperately tried to break through it. However, it was to no avail. He began to feel weak at his knees. Yamato glanced down at his arm which was still heavily bleeding. He dropped his shirt to the ground and leaned up against the wall, panting for breath. His vision finally went as he felt himself hit the hard ground. Everything became black.

X

**Hi guys, I hope you liked this chapter! I've already started on the next one, so it should be out soon. Sorry for the lack of Tai in this one. I was disappointed in myself, being a huge Tai fan and not being able to get him in here. But don't worry, he'll be back next chapter! Thanks to Hedgi for your awesome reviews and your continuing to read the story! **

**Surflilu.**


	4. Friendship Found

"Taichi, we've been walking for a long time now, are you sure you don't want to rest?"

"I'm sure Agumon." Taichi grimaced with each step he took. "It's only a little farther. It has to be."

Agumon sighed as he obeyed his hard-headed partner. It was obvious the boy needed to rest. Something had taken all his energy away, but he didn't know what. Taichi began walking forward again, only to let out a muffled cry as he set his foot down on the ground.

"That's it, Taichi." Agumon crossed his arms across his chest and looked boldly up towards the boy. "I'm not walking anymore. I won't walk until you rest."

"Fine." Taichi looked down at the digimon. "Then I'll go on without you. I need to find my friends."

Agumon opened his eyes wide. He should've expected that stubborn response. "But Taichi, you can't go on without me! Who'll protect you from the evil digimon?"

"Doesn't matter." Taichi grunted as he walked. "I need to find them. I need to find all of them."

"Ughh.." Agumon looked to Tsunomon who gave him a helpless glance as he hopped after the boy. Agumon quickly followed, unwilling to leave his partner.

Taichi turned around. "Glad to see you've made the right decision, Agumon." He weakly smiled, trying to reassure his partner. However, Agumon wasn't too convinced. He left his arms blatantly across his chest as he followed closely behind.

The digimon felt something wet drop upon his back. He looked up at the sky, but there were no clouds to be seen. Another drop fell, this time on his arm. Agumon quickly brushed it off, paying no attention. However, once it hit the ground, he stopped in his tracks. Since when were raindrops bright blue?

"Taichi!"

The boy turned around, annoyed. "What is it now?" But when his eyes saw what was going on, he quickly dropped the laptop he held and ran over to his friend. Tsunomon hopped along, sucking in air in preparation for an attack.

"No! Don't!" Agumon held up his hands to guard the numerous blue droplets which appeared behind him. They quivered and squealed as they hid behind his massive orange body. "They can talk."

When Taichi reached him he took a desperate breath before asking what he was talking about.

"Show him." Agumon asked.

Quickly, the blue droplets began to spell something out.

"Help.." Taichi read quietly. "Help who?"

They immediately began moving around again, dodging each other with perfection. "Yamato."

"Yamato!" Taichi hid the pain that exploded in his body as he did a little jump in the air. "You know where Yamato is?"

They spelled out yes before quickly scrambling away.

"Wait up!" Taichi called as he chased after them. Pain shot through his legs as his chest tightened. The boy simply pushed the pain to the back of his mind. He wasn't even sure if he could trust whatever they were. These.. things, knew where Yamato was, and he needed to find him. Trust was out of the question.

Taichi came to a halt, followed seconds later by Agumon and Tsunomon.

"Is he here?" Tsunomon asked impatiently. However, he never got an answer. Almost immediately, the droplets threw themselves onto the tiny digimon. He tried to scratch them off, but they absorbed into his skin.

"Tsunomon!" Taichi called, "Get off him you traitors!" The boy ran over towards the digimon, but before he could reach him, Tsunomon became engulfed in light. Taichi covered his eyes, only allowing himself to look through the slits between his fingers. From his blurred vision, he could see Tsunomon changing form. He was lifted into the air in a bright blue ball. It spun around and twisted and shrunk, until finally, Garurumon landed on the ground. He still glowed bright blue, but his face looked determined. He scratched the ground with his paw and let a howl ring into the distance. The blue light that surrounded him slowly began to fade away. The droplets once again formed and landed on the ground. Taichi finally allowed himself to see completely.

'_Come'_ The blue droplets spelled out. Taichi tried to keep his eyes on them, but he couldn't take his attention off the giant wolf that was now pounding himself into the ground.

"Garurumon! What's wrong!" Taichi called to him. "Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!"

But, before Taichi could get a response, the blue droplets on the ground began to spin. They created a sort of whirlpool. They began to move faster and faster until a large hole appeared in the ground. It got bigger and threatened to suck Taichi and Agumon into it. The boy looked over at Garurumon.

"Yamato's down there!" the wolf howled as he jumped into the blue pit.

Taichi looked at his own digital partner. "Agumon?"

"We don't have a choice Taichi!" Agumon struggled to say as blue sand flew up into his face.

Taichi shook his head before jumping into the hole. He screamed as he fell. The dirt around him grew darker and darker as he became farther from the daylight above. Soon, however, the dirt turned to walls. Taichi looked down and could see a floor- a hard floor. Taichi flailed in the air, struggling to find a good position to land in. When that failed, he covered his face, and prepared himself for the impact. Thankfully, he landed on a pillow of blue. It absorbed his weight- and Agumon's. The boy shook his head and looked up. In front of him, he saw Garurumon circling two other digimon. It appeared that the they were trapped with whoever the two digimon were, there were no exits to be seen.

"Agumon, who are they?" Taichi stood and helped his friend up.

"I don't know Taichi, but look!" Agumon pointed to a mass of blond hair behind the two armored digimon. Taichi gasped at the sight. Against the wall lay the still body of Yamato. His bloody torso struggled to move up and down. It shook with each breath his lungs ached for. The two guards stood in front of it with their swords at the ready. Garurumon was closing in on them. His mouth was wide open, letting his large teeth be seen. He was ready to rip through anyone to get to Yamato. At once, the wolf lunged towards the two digimon. He grasped one by the neck and threw his body into the stone wall across the room. The other one took his sword and slashed it across Garurumon's back. However, the wolf paid no attention to the cut that appeared under his fur. Garurumon charged the last digimon and pinned it against the wall with his claws.

"How dare you!" The wolf cried as he raised his other paw. The armored digimon didn't have an ounce of remorse in his eyes. It was as if he didn't fear death. With one swift motion, Garurumon struck, and the guard vanished into a million pieces. Without wasting a second to rest- or react from the murder of the two evil digimon, Garurumon ran over to Yamato. He pushed his long nose under his stomach and gently flipped his body over. When the boy didn't move, Garurumon laid down next to him and pushed his head against his bleeding arm. His thick fur stopped the bleeding a bit, but it was still becoming soaked with the red liquid.

Taichi ran over and threw himself down next to Garurumon. "Wake up Yamato!"

The boy held back the tears that formed in the corner of his eyes. He looked down at his friend, trying to figure out what to do. Had he been to late? Taichi counted the seconds between each one of Yamato's desperate breaths. The time between them was much too long. Quickly, Taichi took off his blue short-sleeved shirt and wrapped it around Yamato's arm, making sure not to disturb Garurumon too much. His shirt quickly became damp, but it started to help stop the bleeding. When the fabric couldn't hold anymore of the liquid, Taichi ripped his white undershirt off and put it in place of the blue one.

"Come on Yamato, wake up. Come on." Taichi strengthened his grip around Yamato's arm. His shirt was beginning to turn a deep and deadly red. The blood seeped through onto his hands. Taichi removed one and looked at his palm. He tried to shake the blood off, but he couldn't. It stained his skin and would certainly serve as an awful reminder if Taichi couldn't think of something to do. However, Garurumon beat him to it.

"Wake up." The digimon said, nudging his nose into the boy's face. When he got no response, he spoke up again. "Wake up Yamato, Taichi needs you. Takeru needs you, your friends need you. You need to wake up or else the digital world will be ruined.."

Taichi crawled on his knees over towards Yamato's head. "Garurumon's right." He continued. "We all need you Yamato, come on. We all need your friendship. We need your help… I need your help." The boy looked at his bloodied palm. "I can't do this without you."

Suddenly, the surroundings became engulfed in blue. Taichi and the two digimon looked around them, only to see familiar blue droplets coming out from hiding in the walls. They floated towards the three. Taichi raised his hand to them to try and keep them back, but they went right past him. They hovered over Yamato's body, as if they were silently discussing whether to do something about it. The wolf looked at them desperately. Taichi wondered if he somehow knew what they were thinking. Suddenly, however, the droplets drove themselves into Yamato's skin. Taichi fell backwards as Agumon jumped in front of him. Garurumon placed his head back on Yamato's arm to make sure the bleeding wouldn't become worse again. In a matter of seconds, the blue had disappeared. All the blue droplets were gone. Taichi couldn't tell whether they had all forced their way into his friend's body, but that didn't matter. He needed to figure out their intent. Carefully, Taichi crawled back over towards Yamato. He looked at Garurumon before placing his hand on Yamato's uninjured arm. However, the second he touched it, Yamato sat up.

"Yamato!" Taichi shouted in surprise. "You're…you're okay!"

The boy received no response. The blonde boy began to sweat as he looked around. "Takeru!"

"Takeru's not here!" Taichi struggled to say over the boy's shouting. "Yamato! Listen to me!"

Taichi had so many questions, but he couldn't get them out. Yamato kept shouting for Takeru over and over again. "Takeru! Takeru!"

"Yamato! Calm down!" Taichi grabbed his arm to try to keep him from flailing about. "You'll hurt your arm worse!"

Yamato threw off the boy's grip and began to shake. "Takeru!"

Taichi looked to Garurumon, who looked just as worried and confused as he did. "Yamato! We'll find him! Please calm down!" With that, Taichi got on top of him in an attempt to keep him still. Garurumon pressed his head down as hard as he could on Yamato's arm. Agumon held his claws down against his feet. All Taichi could do was beg him to relax. It was a feeble attempt to save his life.

X

Sorry for the long awaited update, guys! However, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'll start working on the next one as soon as my school schedule let's me, but I promise, it won't take as long as this chapter did!

*surflilu.


	5. Follow Me Through the Woods

Taichi leaned against the wall of the small shelter the group had found. It wasn't very comfortable, but it hid them from view, so it would have to do. Thankfully, Garurumon was able to hold Agumon, Yamato, and himself on his back as he hopped up the wall of the cave. If they couldn't have gotten out, Yamato probably would have died.

Taichi looked over at his friend who lay motionless on the ground. Both Taichi's shirts were now tied around his arm, keeping the blood from spilling out. They were clean now, though. He was able to wash them in a nearby river as Garurumon halted the bleeding. Well, Garurumon was now Gabumon again; his energy quickly gave out once they reached the outside world and he turned back into his rookie form. The small blue digimon lay comfortably next to his partner, protecting him from whatever he thought he needed to. Not far from them, Agumon slept as well. His snores saved the small cave from being filled with silence.

Gently, Taichi moved the crest he was holding in his hand. He rubbed his thumb over the imprint of the design, just to make sure it was real. How could Koushiro have been so smart to leave his crest hidden? How could he possibly have known? Taichi supposed it didn't really matter. As long as some small piece of the group was still with him, the boy was comforted a little. It reminded him that he wasn't totally alone.

Taichi began to shut his eyes; his body was begging him to let sleep befall him. However, Taichi knew better than that now. He couldn't let Yamato down again. Taichi turned to face his sleeping friend; he looked so calm in this state, much calmer than he was before. He kept screaming for Takeru, over and over again. Taichi couldn't help but wonder what Yamato knew that made him yell like that. Was Takeru in serious danger? Perhaps he should be the next one they looked for, but then again, everyone else could be in similar danger.

Taichi spotted Koushiro's computer out of the corner of his eye and got an idea. He crawled over towards it and gently opened it, letting the light from the screen dimly illuminate the cave in a comforting, blue glow. With Koushiro's crest wrapped loosely around his wrist, he began to type. The boy wasn't really sure what he was doing, it just gave him something to do. Quietly, he typed the names of the digidestined on the keyboard. No program was up; nothing would say that he did it, but he still did. He traced the keys as he spelt out Hikari, Sora, Takeru, Mimi, Jyou, Koushiro. Finally, with one last look at his friend, Taichi typed in 'Ishida Yamato'.

The boy gently closed the computer, not expecting anything to happen. However, once he did, he noticed a strong blue light coming from underneath it. It hypnotized him, it looked so familiar. Without thinking, he lifted the computer off of the ground and let the blue light take hold of the cave. Taichi was taken aback- and a little scared, he had to admit. However, the light quickly found the exit and seemed to run outside. Still hypnotized, Taichi followed it. He ran in his barefeet and without a shirt, cold, confused, and dazed. It took him through the forest they hid in, through trees, past hills, and across a lively river. Once Taichi got to the other side of the water, though, the light stopped. Taichi stopped in turn and gazed up at it, wondering what was going on.

"Who are you?" He asked quietly, not sure if it was alive or something made from his imagination.

"That is not important." The light said back.

Taichi jumped in place, had the light really just spoken to him? They boy watched as the light morphed together to create then image of a blue figurine. It didn't have a face, but it clearly resembled a woman. It- well, _she_ had long, flowing hair, and appeared to be naked. The curves of her body were smooth, though, as if she were made entirely of plastic.

The light spoke again. "I'm here to tell you about Anzamon."

"Anzamon?" Taichi asked, "You know about him?"

"Of course I do." The light responded, her voice smooth and mystical. "You see, I represent the crest of friendship."

Taichi's eyes opened wide. "Yamato's crest?"

"Yes, Yamato's crest. Now listen, what I'm about to tell you is very important. You cannot forget a word, because I am unable to reappear, do you understand?"

Taichi quickly nodded and waited for the light to continue.

"Anzamon has all the crests, except yours and Koushiro's, of course." Taichi nodded again and the woman kept on. "However, if the crests cause him pain, the power can escape. Do you understand?"

"Yeah.. I think so.." Taichi responded, "But how do they cause him pain?"

"If the holder of the crest exemplifies it's meaning, or if it is shown towards that person, it will shock Anzamon at his touch. The shocks are invisible droplets escaping. I believe you noticed some in the cave, correct?"

"Yeah.." Taichi replied, putting the pieces together. "So Yamato showed friendship, but very strongly? And Anzamon tried to touch his crest, but it hurt him?"

"Exactly." The light said happily. "For another example, if Anzamon had Koushiro's crest, he wouldn't have been able to touch it because Koushiro was extremely knowledgeable leaving his computer behind."

Taichi smiled. "I get it!"

"Good." The light continued. "Now, the blue droplets appeared, and I am here, because Yamato gave everything to try and save Takeru during the battle with Anzamon. Their relationship was too much for Anzamon to handle, thus, the power of Yamato's crest was able to escape."

"So you're the power of the crest? You're the droplets, too?" Taichi asked.

"I am. You must listen though. The crests that haven't let their powers free are in grave danger. All of you are separated; all of you are in danger. If the carriers of the crests don't act upon their crests in time, Anzamon will succeed in taking over the digiworld. Some have already activated, like Yamato's, but others haven't. You must find everyone and save them. Do you understand this?"

"Yes. Yes I do. I know I can do it, I have to." Taichi responded bravely, clutching his own crest around his neck.

"You impress me, Taichi." The light responded. "I believe in you too. But listen, the crests that have been activated so far are friendship, light, and love. Their qualities have either been acted out by the holder or have been displayed to the holder by others. The crests that have not released their power, they must be activated as soon as possible. It is necessary that you either find them and help them show their qualities, or show those qualities to them. Only then will Anzamon lose. You must hurry though, it is under my understanding that Anzamon has already been angered, and he's taking out his anger on the digidestined themselves. If one of you dies, the world will lose any chance of surviving."

"My God.." Taichi stuttered. "Who's he hurt? Where is everyone?"

"That I do not know, Taichi." The light replied as it began to fade away. "My time here is almost up. The power of friendship will live throughout the digiworld, but please, do not give up."

"No! Wait!" Taichi called as the light disintegrated into nothing. "Please!'

"I'm sorry.." Was the only muffled response Taichi got.

Slowly, Taichi turned around and realized he had no idea where he was. "Damnit!" He shouted aloud as he tried to cross the river again. Once he got to the other side, though, he luckily found footsteps on that ground that led him back to the small shelter. Everyone, he found, was still asleep. Taichi laid himself back down on the ground and tried to process everything that just happened to him. The crests, the power, Anzamon, his friends.. What was he supposed to do when he didn't even know where anyone was? More importantly, how had Hikari and Sora's crests been activated? Taichi thought deeply, trying to remember if anything had happened that exemplified their traits. Perhaps, Taichi thought to himself, Hikari showed light when she was willing to sacrifice her life for Sora. Then Sora, Taichi wasn't sure about her. He'd have to find her and figure it out, he'd have to find everyone. He'd found Yamato by pure luck. If it hadn't been for Koushiro, Yamato probably would have been dead by now.

Dead. Taichi sat back up. Yamato would have been dead a long time ago.. Time was running out faster than Taichi had realized. Perhaps their time was already over.. Hikari, Sora, they were all gone.

"No.." Taichi said aloud, yet quietly. He couldn't think like that. There was still hope. There had to be.. As quiet as could be, Taichi crawled over towards Yamato and made sure his shirts were still secure around his arm. "I won't give up hope, Yamato. I promise. Wherever Takeru is, I promise, we'll find him."

"Taichi!"

"What?" The boy spun around to see Agumon standing in the spot where he was sleeping seconds before. "What is it?"

"There's.. There's something there!" The digimon pointed out through the forest where a bright light was shining. The trees shook as it came closer.

"What.. What is that?" Taichi asked, quickly standing up himself. He clenched his fists and ran up next to his partner.

"I don't know, Taichi.. but here it comes!"

X

_"What do you mean he found friendship?!" Anzamon shouted, sending an echo throughout the entire stone room._

_ A Bakemon stepped forward and stuttered, "I mean.. friendship is with him.. we couldn't find him in time.. A million apologies.."_

_ "You're all worthless!" Anzamon screamed shrilly, sending all the Bakemon backwards again. "Find them both! Don't come back without their dead bodies in hand!"_

X

**Sweet! Another chapter, done! I think this one was very informative and helped to clear some things up. Honestly, I wasn't planning on finishing this for at least another couple days, but since I managed to get the worst sunburn EVER at my track meet yesterday, I decided to stay in bed all day and finish it. I'm really excited about this story now, my writer's block has completely disappeared. So, I suppose reviews would be nice, but until next time, happy reading ^_^**

***Surflilu.**


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